Toy mail-bag-loading mechanism



Nov. 3, 192s. 1,560455 y H. s. BECKER Er AL TOY MAIL BAG LOADINGMECHANSM Filed Dec/a, 1924 2 sheetsfsheet 2 f v 'www Patented Nov. 3,192".

UNITED STATES PATENT orrice.

HARRY S. BECKER, 0F RIVER FR-EST, AND EARL BOSSELLIER AND GUY SCHU-MACHER, 0F CHICAGO, ILLETOTS, l-.SSGNMS TO AMERCAN FLYER VANUFACTUR- NGCOMPANY, OF Cl-CAGO, LLIE'OIS, A CRCORATON OF LLNOIS. i

TOY MAIL-BAGLOADING MECHANISM.

Application led December 8, 1924.

To all whom fit may concer-n.'

Be it known that We, Hanny S. BnCiinr., Emi. Borssnnrnn, and GUY F.Sonrmmcrrnn, citizens or the United States, residing, respectively, atRiver Forest and Chicago and Chicago, in the county of Cook and State.oit illinois, have invented certain new and use- :tui Improvements inToy ldaileBag-Loading;` Mechanism, oit which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to 'toy railways7 and more particularly to a toymail bag` loading mechanism adapted for use in connection withmechanically or electrically operated trains.

A primar7 object ot' the invention is to provide a toy device that willsimulate the operation and action of automatic mail bag loadingapparatus ot' the type usually employed in railway mail service. That isto say, the invention has in view a toy mail ba support and car-carriedloading device arranged on the car in such a Way that the mail bagsuspended adjacent to track-Way will be automatically removed from itssupport and thrown into the mail car in a positive and effective manneras thetrain passes the loading station.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device that may bereadily and quickly attached to the car and to the traclcivay by any boyor inexperienced person, thereby providing an 'exceedingly practicalaccessory Which may be used in connection vvith any part of the track,and which permits of usine` as many supports along' the track asdesired. thereby increasine: the amusement afforded by having; a numberof loading stations along` the traclcway.

`Vith the above and other objects in view which will more readily appearas the nature of-` the invention is'better. understood, the

same consists in the novel construction.'and` @ensembles Shore .it 1a"Serial No. 754,590.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View takenV on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. is a perspective view ofthe Inail bag support.

Fig'. 5 is a perspective view oi the mail bag' catcher or loader.

Fig. 6 is a detail elevation of a mail bac'.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several ligures of the drawings.

In carrying the present invention into etfect, it is proposed to providea toy mail bagarranged to be held in position in a suitable supporta'llixed to the track along which the train travels. and a devicecarried by the car and including` an arm dise posed in such a mannerthat it Will engagethe mail bac' as the car passes it to therebyautomatically remove the mail bag` from its support and throw it intothe car.

Accordingly. it is proposed to provide a mail han" support desienatedgenerally as A and a mail han' catching device B carried by the car. thesaid support A beine attached to the track C. which track includes therails R upon which the train travels and the ties T for connecting thesame. In the latter connection. however, it Will be understood that itis Within `the scope of the inv vention to arrange the support in such aWav 'Tn the construction shown in Fior. l. the

hodv of mail bac support A is preferably made of a siufrle piece ofstamped meel torecon'omv and convenience anflincludesa vertical part orstandard l and an anfrularlv f disposed clampin'r` base desifrnatedgenerally as 2. At one side. this standard is prorudefl with the spacedoffset arms 3 which may lbe formed from the bodv and have a tend- -encyto sprinl` apart. either due to their inherent resiliency. or itsequivalent. thereby-frictionaliv to eneasrethe end loops m of a mail bagontliehookstermed at the ends of said arms. To facilitate the removal ofthe mail bag M- by the mail bag catcher B on the moving train, the'.said. hooks. 4 are preferably inclined at an angle to the arms, the saidinclination being in the direction of movement or path" of travel of thetrain.

The clamping base 2 is preferably disposed in a generally horizontalposition, and the embodiment shown consists of the angularly disposedportions 5 and 6, the former providing a bearing foot 7 where it joinswith the standard 1, thereby to take a bearing on the floor or othersupport for the track. This arrangement stabilizes the standard 1 andprevents twisting or rocking thereof when the mail bag is engaged by themail bag catcher on the car. The inclined portion 6, previously referredto includes the hook-like upstanding rail engaging jaws- 8 and 9', theformer being adapted to engage the base flangeV of ani outside trackraill R and the latter being adapted to engage the base flange at theinner or gauge side of the opposite rail'. These rail engaging jaws 8and 9 are adapted to cooperate with a spring locking or clamping member1:0 which is riveted or otherwise secured to the part 6 at one end whileits opposite end is formed into a movable rail clamping jaw 11, and afinger engaging portion 12' thereby to facilitate the aflixi'ng and'disengaging of the clamp to the rails of the'` track.

`With the foregoing arrangement it will be apparent' that the relativelyhorizontal base of the mail bag support includes a track clamp havingjaws for releasably engaging the rails R of the track in such a mannerthat the entire mail bag support A may be placed at any point along thetrack-way, and also permits of' using as many mail bag supports asdesired with facility, and without in any way interfering with thenormal track assembly.

The mail bag` catching device B` preferablyv consists of a mail bagengaging and throwing arm 14 which is carried by a suitable attachingclip 15 for securing the arm to the car wall 16 at one side of the dooropening 17. This clip preferably comprises a body portion having thespaced .outturned hook portions 18 and an intermediate clamping spring19 which is adapted to be compressed against the inside of the i carwhen the clip is positioned as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, while the hookmembers 18 engage the side edge of the door opening and also the outsideface of the ear wall.

The mail bag engaging `arm 14 is formed of spring-metal and normallyprojects outwardly and forwardly from one edge of the door lopening 17as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3. As the car or train trai/'els alongthe track the arm i4 intended to engage "with a mail sack M suspendedfrom the-hooks of the supporting arms a. Since the arms 3-3 arecompressed by the placing of the mail sack thereon to temporarily holdor restrain the same on the hooks it will be apparent that as the carcarrying the arm 14 continues its travel, the arm 14 will, after firstengaging with the mail sack M, be placed under increasing tension untilthe accumulated strength in the resilient arm 14 is sufficient to removethe loops m of the mail sack from the hooks 4. lVhen the spring doesremove the sack from the support the said sack will be thrown into thecar through the door opening 17 due to the snap-action of the spring-arm14 returning to its normal position.

Obviously, the arm 14 will function in a similar manner each time itstrikes a mail sack M, so that if sufficient trackage is used to permitof the placing of mail` bag supports ati spaced intervals throughout thetrack-way, the,l resilient mail bag engaging arm 14 will remove the mailsacks in succession, as fast as it suits the pleasure of. the operatorto replace the sacks on the supports. In View of the foregoingdescription it is thought that it will be readily apparent that thepresent invention aims to provide a toy mail bag loading mechanismincluding a mail bag support having means for releasably holding a mailbagV under tension', and which may if desired be conveniently associatedwith the track so that little or no experience is required to set thesame up. Also, an effectivev and practical means for removing the mailsack from the support is provided. In the stamped metal embodiment ofthe invention shown in Fig. 1 a convenient and practical accessory isprovided which may be fitted to any type of toy train now in use, thesame being adapted for detachably engaging with the track at any pointthereof. That feature not only provides for making kthe mail loadingstation at a convenient point in the track-way but also permits of theequipment being readily taken down and stored along with the rest of ofthe apparatus, and furthermore makes the entire toy railway selfsustaining.

llVithout further detailed description it is thought that the featuresand advantages of the invention will be readily understood by thoseskilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes inthe form` proportion and minor details of construction, may be resortedto without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of theappended claims.

We claim 1. A toy mail bag handling apparatus for toy'trains comprisinga bag support adapt-A ed. to bedetachably fitted to a, trackandincluding spaced apart spring arms having means for engaging the endsof a bag and carried by an uprighu a base upon kwhich the upright ismrgunted, and Ineens.

carried by the base for engaging with a portion of the track thereby toposition the mail bag at the proper location with -reference to amoving` train. y l Y 2. A toy mail bag catching and loading apparatusfor toy trains comprising toy mail bag catching and loading means on acar, and a toy mail bag support, said support including an uprightmember haviing oii'set spring arms for engaging and supporting the bag,and a horizontal base portion having means 'or releasably engaging aportion of a trackway.

A toy mailbag catching and loading mechanism for mail cars of toy trainscoinprising toy mail bag catching and loading means carried by a car,and a toy mail bag support inclijiding a member bent into substantiallyangular torination to provide an upright portion and a horizontalportion, ell'set mail bag supporting elements carried by the uprightportion, and track engaging means carried by the said horizontalportion.

l-. A toy mail bag catching and loading device for mail cais of toytrains comprising toy mail bag catching and loading means carried by alcar, and means for supporting said toy mail bag comprising a member bentto provide an imriglitportion and horizontal portion, ot'fset mail bagsupporting arn'is carried by the upright portion, a plurality ot railengaging hook members formed in the horizontal portion, and relativelymovable means cooperating with said hook portions to releasably hold thesame in engagement with the rails.

A toy mail bag catching and loading apparatus for toy railway-inail carscomprising a toy mail bag support arranged at one side ot a trackway onwhich a car travels, and a toy inail bag catching and loading clipmember having resilient means for detacliably engaging one edge oiE thedoorway of said car and having an outwardly disposed spring arm forengaging a mail bag and throwing the same through the doorway into thecar.

A toy mail bag catching and loading apparatus Ylor toy railway mail carscornprising a toy mail bag support arranged at one side oit a trackwayon which a train travels, and a toy inail bag catching and loadingdevice detachably carried by a doorway ot said` car, said devicecomprising a body formed with a clip portion having means for clampinglyengaging the inner and outer sides of the car body ,at the doorway, andalso having an oi'tset spring arm for engaging a mail bag.

7. A toy mail bag loading mechanism for toy cars having a doorway,comprising a support for a toy mail bag, a mail bag catcher detachablycarried by the car at one edge of the doorway and including a cliphaving means for releasably gripping thc car wall adjacent the doorwayand also having a resilient arm extending across the outi side ot saiddoorway.

S. A toy mail bag loading mechanism 'for i supporting member having4meansfor releasably holding a mail bag, and a mail bag catching devicecarried by the car.V

9. A toy mail bag loading mechanism for toy trains comprising a Vmailbag supportw ing device arranged at one side of a track, and a mail bagcatching member detachably fitted to a car and including a relativelyiat spring arm adapted to be placed under increasing tension as thetrain continues in its travel past the position of the supporting deviceai'ter the arm has engaged a bag, thereby to cause the accuinulatedtorce in the spring arm to remove the bag from a support and throw itinto the car.

10. A toy mail bag loading mechanism including a support lfor the bagincluding an upright part having bag supporting means, and a horizontalbase part having iiXed and movable clamping aws for engaging with therails of a track.

11. A toy mail bag loading mechanism including an upright part havingbag supporting means and a horizontal base part having fixed spacedhook-like jaws for engaging opposite rails of a track, and a spring jaw'for engaging one of said rails.

12. A toy mail bag loading mechanism including a support for a bagincluding an upright part having bag supporting means and a horizontalbase part provided with fixed rail engaging abutinents and manuallymanipulated means working in opposition to said fixed abutinents toclamp thebase to the rails of a track.

13. A toy mail bag loading mechanism including a mail bag supportstamped from sheet metal, resilient mail bag supporting arms on saidsupport, and means forvattaching said support to a trackway.

14. A toy mail bag loading mechanism including a mail bag supportincluding a bodv and a base formed from the same piece ot sheetmaterial, resilient bag supporting members formed from the-body, andmeans on the base for detachably engaging with a portion of a trackway.

15. A toy mail bag catching and loading apparatus for toy trainscomprising toy mail bag catching and loading means carried by a train,and a bag support comprising an upright member having offset bagengaging means and a horizontal base member having means for detachablyengaging the rails of a track, and said means being also' arranged toprevent relative twisting movement under the impaot due to the begcatohng and loading apparatus removing the bag from its support.

16. A toy mail bag handling apparatus for toy trains comprising a. bagsupport stamped from sheet metal, mail bag supporting arms for-ined fromthe body of said support, and ineens for erecting said support at theproper locution with reference to a moving train.

17. A toy mail bag catching and loading apparut-us for toy trainsincluding a support for a bug, and means carried by said support forengaging with the rails of si 15 toy track thereby to hold the supportin opmomes erative relation to. a mail bag catching apparatus carried bya oar traveling on the track.

18. A toy inail bag handling apparatus for toy trains comprising a bagSupport and track clamping means carried by the support for engagingwith u portionl of a tra-ok thereby to position the mail bag at theproper position with reference to a. Inoving train.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aix our signatures.

HARRY S. BECKER. EARL BOISSELIER. GUY F. SCHUMACHER.l

